Veteran running back DeAngelo Williams told WBTV on Monday he’s been released after a season in which he was limited to six games because of injury. Williams, who turns 32 in April, is coming off his worst season as a professional. He suffered ankle and hand injuries, rushing for 219 yards on 62 carries without a touchdown.(Charlotte Observer)

FF Today's Take:The Panthers will reportedly save $2 million against the cap if he's designated a post-June 1st cut. Williams (32) noted that head coach Ron Rivera and general manager Dave Gettleman indicated to him that they simply didn't run the ball enough to keep both running backs. Jonathan Stewart will head into 2015 as the No.1 running back in Carolina.

Coach Ron Rivera said Friday that he did not want to divulge his running back rotation beyond Stewart starting because it could give the Falcons a competitive advantage.
"I'm not going to sit here and divulge what my plan is with my players," Rivera said. "I don't want to get up here and tell you exactly what we're going to do with our players. Why do I want to give the opponent any insight into what we're going to do?"
(ESPN)

FF Today's Take:What we do know is Jonathan Stewart will start. How much DeAngelo Williams plays, if at all, remains to be seen. Williams was listed as Questionable last week but was only available in an emergency situation according to Rivera. The Probable tag suggests he may see the field in a backup role. High-end RB2 usage from Stewart should be expected.

FF Today's Take:Head coach Ron Rivera went to say that Williams could be used in an emergency. This is good news for Jonathan Stewart owners as Stewart should see the bulk of carries for the Panthers against the Browns that just gave up a monster rushing day to the Bengals.

FF Today's Take:Williams has been little more than a huge annoyance for Jonathan Stewart owners in recent years. With Williams "probably" out, Stewart is a decent start based on a good matchup (Tampa Bay) and the fact that Cam Newton will not be around to steal goal-line work. On the downside, Newton's absence greatly increases the chances the Bucs will load up against the run and dare Derek Anderson to beat them. As such, his Week 15 upside is probably as a low-end RB2.

As one Carolina Panthers running back starts to look like the rusher of old while the other one gets older, Carolina coach Ron Rivera is still hesitant to name the more effective back the starter.
Jonathan Stewart rushed 20 times for 155 yards and a touchdown in Sunday’s 41-10 victory over the New Orleans Saints, but it was still not enough for Rivera to definitively name Stewart the team’s starter.
A team source has indicated to the Observer that the coaching staff feels Stewart is better feeding off Williams rather than starting the game, and that he didn’t respond like the staff would have liked him to when he was named the starter midway through the 2012 season.
But with Williams sidelined with a broken hand, Stewart took control of the running game and had the second-best performance of his seven-year career.
“The number (of carries) he got we felt was the number we were looking for,” Rivera said. “Now if he gets more than that, so be it. If he gets less than that, so be it. We’re going to use him the way the flow of the game goes.
“(DeAngelo) certainly is part of the mix of guys we have. He’s part of who we are as a football team.”
Stewart did not start against the Vikings two weeks ago but had 12 carries for 85 yards in the 31-13 loss at Minnesota. Williams fractured a bone in his hand during that game.
Williams has had trouble gripping the ball and hasn’t been able to practice. Rivera reiterated Monday that Williams is day-to-day.
While Williams is on pace for the worst full season of his career, Stewart has rushed for more yards in the past two games (240) than Williams has all season (219 yards in six games).
“(Stewart) has played well the last two weeks, but DeAngelo is a really good runner, too,” Panthers offensive coordinator Mike Shula said. “In my mind, I see it as a good mix and a good changeup. Each of them does a lot of things very similarly and yet they’re kind of different in their own ways.”
When Williams returns, there will be carries for him, Rivera said.
“We’re not going to do things because it’s what everybody expects or thinks,” Rivera said. “We’re going to do things because that’s how things are working and successful.”(Charlotte Observer)

FF Today's Take:Wow, Ron Rivera. Still with the DeAngelo Williams? Despite Rivera's incoherent squawking, all the empirical evidence points to Stewart being the more effective back and the player with more upside. Williams is still dealing with a hand injury and Stewart should be deployed as a mid-tier RB2 in Week 15.

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